{five minute friday: permission} The alarm jingles, the phone starts buzzing, the kids have needs, lunches need to be packed and the day spins to a start. Noise and demands and distractions press in. I escape to the garden. The one place I can’t rush. The small yellow petals of the tomato flower have givenContinue reading “permission to pause”
Author Archives: mariel
how to read a love letter
A letter written by my great great grandmother to my great grandmother was put into my hands by my grandmother a couple years ago. It’s a letter written nearly a hundred years ago in Cuba. My son and I poured over it, translating it with fascination. We didn’t want to miss a single detail. DetailsContinue reading “how to read a love letter”
tending tuesday: tending in the quiet times
Welcome to Tending Tuesday! This week I want to introduce you to Debra Wallace. She is a writer who is passionate about helping women who’ve experienced husband’s same-sex addiction overcome shame and secrecy so they can pursue hope and healing. Ten years into her 22 year marriage, she became aware of her husband’s same-sex attractionContinue reading “tending tuesday: tending in the quiet times”
how to release the pressure
{five minute friday: pressure} My Instant Pot makes hissing sounds when it finishes cooking and releases the pressure within that it used to cook our meal. Thing is, I also hiss when I have pressure built up within me. The pressure of time demands, the pull of the phone, the responsibilities, anxieties and even theContinue reading “how to release the pressure”
how to prep the soil of your heart
My little garden is in the back end of our yard. It’s tiny but inviting. As I stroll towards it in the morning, I feel the release of the noise falling away and the draw of peace as I near it. The little bench remains on one end, inviting us both, Jesus and I. IContinue reading “how to prep the soil of your heart”
learning gentle rhythms
{five minute friday: gentle} Gentle was the word that erupted from the young woman’s mouth as her young son reached his hand out to pat our excited pup. I wasn’t sure whether it was a command for my dog or her son. Maybe both. We demand gentleness from others but so easily fail to offerContinue reading “learning gentle rhythms”
tending tuesday: when it’s not easy to pray
Welcome to Tending Tuesday! This week, I want to introduce Miriam Kook. She collaborated as a composer and music director with playwright and lyricist Steffi Rubin on a play about adoption called “My Other Mother” which enjoyed two staged readings in the Maryland area recently. She is currently writing her own musical about fatherless girlsContinue reading “tending tuesday: when it’s not easy to pray”
seeking to keep savoring
{five minute friday: savor} As we begin to find a new normal, the swirling of the busy lives that we were forced to lay down last year, seem to be sweeping right back in. The refocusing and reorienting that we felt so called to last spring seems to have been lost in the zoom callsContinue reading “seeking to keep savoring”
the art of practicing prayer
{Communing with God Series: Part 3} As we seek to spend time practicing prayer, let’s begin by looking at the last two parts of Psalm 51, a prayer of repentance. The first part of the psalm was the “cleansing” part. This is the portion of the psalm where David acknowledges his wrongful behavior. This portionContinue reading “the art of practicing prayer”
the most important step in bible study
{five minute friday: redeem} Opening the Bible for the first time at 23 years old, I had no idea what to expect. Honestly, wasn’t even certain it would be written in a language I could understand. As an atheist, I had come to the place where I needed to defend my unbelief to my newContinue reading “the most important step in bible study”